Christopher G. Moore is one of my most favorite independent writer and directors. I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing his last three short films, all produced through Cinema Fuel Productions, and I have to say everything Chris touches comes out looking like gold. He’s one of the few directors in the game who has a definitive style, one of class and refine that you’d know you were watching a product from him without his name being plastered across it. Knob Goblins is no exception and who would have thought there could be an ounce of refinement in a movie about a demonic caterpillar-looking thing that wants to bite your cock off!
There are two reasons why Moore – and thus Knob Goblins – always comes out on top. First, he has a keen sense of production and fully understands the product he is creating for the viewers. His movies always have flawless lighting, even when shooting in the dark. He uses a variety of interesting angles and puts a lot of effort into set decoration and costuming. The cinematography in Knob Goblins is top notch and the monster creation was simple yet effective. Props to Ismail Abdelkhalek, Bill Mulligan and Tom Gore for those aspects, but really the entire crew worked hard and it shows. Same can be said for the cast, Gore, Michael Ray Williams, Yale Giffin, Jaysen P. Buterin and Christopher Houldsworth. What’s great about their performances here is that they play the roles, the roles don’t play them. Often in independent cinema, a director will attach a body to a role just to fill the part. Luckily in the case of Knob Goblins, everyone on screen is a talented actor and that only serves to heighten this short film’s quality.
When it comes to handling the topic of knob goblins, creatures that want to eat your junk, it can become very easy to just run wild with the concept and go crazy. Any different and hilarious concept can fall victim to this pitfall and we’ve seen a number of SyFy movies and horror-comedies die out of the gate because of that. Moore understood the very difficult task of balancing story with comedy and one man’s encounter with the knob goblin is a smooth, cohesive tale with just the right amounts of horror and comedy thrown in. Again, it’s hard to tackle horror-comedy when dealing with a bizarre plot, but Moore hurdled the obstacles with ease and has released another short film that is watchable for most audiences over 16. However, this also means that Moore has fallen into my typical complaint, one that I always attach to anything he puts his lens to. I want more! Stop making shorts already and make a freakin’ feature! He’s completely revitalized the idea behind the term “knob goblin” and the possibilities are endless now. Imagine his version of the knob goblin at a frat house part. Imagine his version of the knob goblin at a sperm bank. I would love to see Mr. Moore tackle this concept again but on a broader scale. He’d get a distribution deal for sure.
Speaking of real criticisms, I only really have one. I hated one of the opening shots, a long, wide angle that showed the entire left side of a house. It hurt me. Moore is such a talented director and the shot seemed lazy to me. It could have been just as effective shooting the men walking up with R.J. from the front. Just my two cents there.
Knob Goblins is another great addition to Moore’s catalogue as a director and I’m sure this one is going to win a couple of awards, too. A believable lead with Michael Ray Williams, a monster that is reborn from an old word pairing, beautiful production and a smooth, actualized concept with both comedy and horror in the right amounts. I honestly wouldn’t have expected anything less here. Final Score: 8.5 out of 10.
